As the BA.2 variant takes hold, the United Kingdom has added a variety of new COVID-19 symptoms to their official list.
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Dr. Amesh Adalja, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told KCBS Radio's "Ask An Expert" it is important for people to be aware of the range of symptoms associated with the disease.
"I think it's important that people realize that COVID-19 is a respiratory virus that causes a lot of different symptoms and you may inadvertently have COVID, even if you have certain symptoms that you think are related to something else," he said.
Often with COVID-19 cases, Adalja advised to be on the lookout for symptoms that are clustered together. "It will be a runny nose, headache, muscle ache and pain, it's not usually one in isolation," he said.
However, with BA.2 spreading, it is also important to have a low threshold of expectation for what a COVID-19 symptom may look like.
The original signs of a COVID-19 infection recognized in the U.K. were fever, new continuous cough and loss of sense of smell or taste. But as of Monday, the list of symptoms was expanded to shortness of breath, feeling tired or exhausted, aching body, headache, sore throat, blocked or runny nose, loss of appetite, diarrhea and feeling sick or being sick.
For those with heightened anxiety who are unsure of how to determine if their symptoms are COVID-19 or another affliction, such as allergies, Adalja said it is important to consider context.
"It's hard," he acknowledged. "I think what you have to do is really look at your symptoms and see, for example if you're talking about allergies, have you had allergies before? Were you around something that triggers your allergies like a cat or a dog or pollen? Do you have other symptoms besides just the runny stuffy nose, do you also have fevers and chills? That's not normal for allergies."
Ultimately, the lesson learned here is why at home COVID-19 rests are so useful, Adalja said. "They allow you to know your status and they can put that uncertainty out of your mind," bringing peace to those feeling overwhelmed.
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